Advertising and Promotion

The stride gum "spit it out adventure" ad campaign is quite interesting to me. Stride is selling and marketing gum, and these ads depict stride sending out a team of people to hunt down those who have been chewing the same piece for too long, and make them spit it out. Of course they use humorous and unconventional ways of forcing these people to spit out their gum to make the ads funny, but the underlying message is what really gets me thinking. Stride's main goal is to sell gum. These advertisements show that Stride gum is simply TOO high quality, and once you start chewing it, there's no reason to stop because it NEVER loses it's flavor. For this reason, the same company that created the gum must go out and right the world by forcing people to spit out their old gum. I think that's enough to atleast spark a little curiosity in consumers about the actual life of a piece of Stride gum and motivate consumers to purchase it. Good job stride!

Brand Image

Makers of luxury cars rely on consumer's obsession with brands. These companies (BMW and Ferrari are just two examples) boast their cars being equipped with features unmatched by any other car. Upholding a strong brand image is instrumental in the sales of these cars. If the consumer didn't think they were getting an insurmountable more luxury and features from a Lexus, why would they pay $30,000 more for it? Americans want to do everything they can to give off the image that their successful and weathy because money has overtaken everything. Many people choose to portray this image through their car. Even young people with low paying jobs put thousands of dollars in to their vehicles to try and achieve the image of success and wealth. More people will see your car than your house, so why not splurge and feel important?

Packaging and Advertisement

Oh, Herbal Essences commercials... These were quite a shocker when they first started running their interesting shower ads. I felt almost embarrassed to be in the same room as my parents when these came on TV, yet somehow I was drawn to the product. I began using herbal essences shortly after. If that girl could have such a good time in the shower, why couldn't I?

In addition to their racy ads, herbal essences products come packaged in colorful, tantilizing bottles. When I saw the new hydralicious line in Walmart one day, I stopped dead in my tracks and said, "What is this? I HAVE to have it!" It wasn't just the shampoo and conditioner, but yet the whole display that the products were placed on. The general idea was the same as the image above, they make it seem like there's almost something magical about the products.

Advertising and Promotion

I'm going to revisit advertising, just because it's such a vast topic with so many areas to explore. Some recent ads that I thought were very interesting are the new Microsoft PC and Apple iMac ads. Recently, Microsoft has been experiencing some pretty fierce competition from apple. As apple gains awareness and trust from consumers, the perceived risk of switching is beginning to decrease. When apple first introduced its operating system, there was a very high perceived risk from PC users because they had never used anything else. Seeing this competition rising, Microsoft launched an ad campaign reassuring PC users that their fears are correct, and staying PC is the way to go. They tell customers that Mac's are hard to use, there are technological walls to the rest of society. Mac's have ads telling consumers the opposite, and portraying their computers and sleek, sexy, and technologically advanced.

Advertising and Promotion

Promotion is a very interesting category to me. Mass media advertisements like television, radio, magazine, and newspaper ads are everywhere. Not a day goes by that I do not see atleast ten advertisements. Marketers have gotten trickier over the years, too. People, especially teens, don't respond to ads the way they used to. It is becoming increasingly difficult for marketers to get consumers to want to listen to what they have to say with innovations like tivo and DVR. Ads need to catch the eye of the consumer quickly. Marketers often use popular music and celebrities to accomplish this.
The image above is a Calvin Klein advertisement from 1980. Calvin was the first designer to stamp his name on the back of jeans. Many designers thought denim to be beneath them and did not ever consider it to be a profitable market. Calvin decided to take this challenge on, and he created a whole new kind of ad campaign to go along with his new denim. Calvin Klein used very young up and coming models, rather than high profile, older models. He wanted to catch the eye of young people. His ads were considered vulgar and risque by many, but they got him the attention he wanted and his career soared. Since the origination of his innovative idea, many companies picked up on it, and using young models is still an advertising practice used today.

Pricing

The Motorola RAZR was introduced by Cingular in 2004. It was marketed as an innovative fashion phone because of it's sleek and small nature. The inspiration from the phone's name came from its thin nature. The phone's original price was $399.99 with new activation. I got this phone not too long after it came out, when it was the "new, hot thing." After about six months, I was completely bored of the phone and it was already beginning to have technical problems. Honestly, the phone was not that great, but Cingular was able to charge a high skimming price because it was supposedly the latest and greatest in cellular technology. It was extremely innovative to be able to have many great features, yet still get the phone to be paper thin. Since then, many other phones have challenged the size of cellular devices, like the Pantech C3, which was marketed as the world's smallest flip phone (which I also got when it came out). Needless to say, the RAZR's price dropped fairly rapidly, and the first generation of that phone can probably be acquired for free.

Services

The amazing amount of services present in the United States and around the world is fascinating to me. Someone, somewhere, can provide a service for just about any need imaginable. We rely on other people to do so many things for us on a day to day basis. Many services have evolved into enormous productions that provide much more than just the simple service.

One prime example of this are hair salons. The salon rarely ever just cuts your hair anymore. Gene Juarez, for example, has a full salon and spa. While at the facility (servicescape) one can get a haircut, facial, pedicure, massage, and much more. They offer a skin care line and personal consultations with their professionals. And by no means are these services just an added "bonus," you will definitely pay to be pampered, but people like to feel like their special and this elevated service is highly sought after.

Downward Line Stretch

In the fashion world, downward and upward line stretch are commonly used by designers to expand their market and increase revenue. Downward line stretch is seen by a very high percentage of high end, haute couture designers. Many middle to upper-middle class consumers love their products but simply cannot afford the price. A downward line stretch allows these products to be attainable by a wider range of people. In addition, this helps spread the designers name and generate interest. Aside from just creating lower end garments, designers also expand themselves into the accessories market which allows a wider range of people to purchase something with their name on it as well.

The images above are a depict a prime example of a downward line stretch that was just launched. The first picture shows Alexander McQueen garments on the runway, which run up to $5,000 for one piece, and the lower picture shows the Alexander McQueen collection for target, starting at $19.99.

Augmented Service

In today's society credit cards are inseperable from money spending. People like to buy things they can't actually afford, and credit allows this to become a possibility. This is an augmented service that many retailers offer to help lure people in to spending more money than they probably should. For example, electronic and jewelry stores often have credit cards because their products are so pricey. A customer rarely has $1,500 to fork over for a new flat screen, or $5,000 for an engagement ring. Offering credit allows these stores to acquire many customers that they would not be able to otherwise, and allows these customers to buy more and spend more, while the retailer is racking up even more money than they would have originally through high interest rates.

Chanel Brand Personality

Brand personality and image is something that is important for many companies and consumers alike. In order to reach their desired target market, many brands need a highly specific image that the consumer can relate to, has something in common with, or aspires to be.

I chose to discuss Chanel because since the fashion house's creation, it has carried a very distinct and identifiable image. The brand was created by Coco Chanel, and carries her name. She began designing at a time when women were slaves to fashion, and what the male designers wanted them to wear. She proposed a change, classically elegant fashion that was surprisingly comfortable to wear. Long after Chanel's death, the brand still boasts an image modeled after it's creator: simple, and chic. Many young women desire Chanel because of its innovative and remarkable creator, and it's brand personality and image.

Business to Business purchasing guidelines

Nordstrom is a higher end department store based out of Seattle. This is a very interesting company when it comes to the manner in which they perform their business purchasing. The company has four tiers to it's corporate social responsibility guidelines: Supporting Communities, Sustaining the Environment, Protecting Human Rights, and Caring for Our People. The first three of these tiers have a huge impact on how they conduct their business and their purchasing. Their Human Rights guidelines go above and beyond the international labor laws in some ways. For example, when sourcing their materials, garments, and fabrics from foreign countries, Nordstrom investigates the factories they are purchasing from, and even if child labor is legal in the country of origin, Nordstrom will not work with that factory. If they do not agree with the wages or hours the employees receive, they will not work with that factory.
These types of requirements help set Nordstrom apart in product and supplier selection, and it diversifies their customer base as well. As social responsibility comes to the forefront of more and more people's minds, companies that have these kinds of policies will receive the business and revenue from those that care.

Consumer Behavior

When thinking about consumer behavior, for me, perceived risk of the purchase or decision is a huge factor. Small changes in this, can drastically change my likehood to purchase. High perceived risk makes a purchase more high involvement, and can turn it into enduring involvement.
Consumer choice on insurance is enduring involvement, and although I have never personally made this decision, I imagine there is high perceived risk involved. Many insurance companies, such as geico and progressive, run a high amount of advertisements telling customers how easy the whole process is, and how much money they can save you. Representatives are portrayed as friendly and informed, and some insurance companies even go as far as assisting you in comparative shopping. All of this, in my opinion, is to help consumers let their guard down and lower their perceived risk in purchasing insurance in general, and especially with their company.

Market Research

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=frol02p70&continuous=1

This is a link to a very interesting Frontline video. They did a series on "Hunting for Cool" that's about research on the teen market. Getting young adults to respond to advertisements in a positive way is much harder than any other market. For this reason, market researchers must dig deeper, and use different tactics. One way to get direct responses from teens is to hold focus groups and pay the participants. Even then, however, the nature of a teen is to be unresponsive and vague. "Cool Hunting" is something that is becoming popular. Market researchers go out in to the streets and photograph and interview teens that are outside and ahead of the curve. They then compile this information and sell it to large business who then use it as the basis for their advertisements. Spending more money on figuring out what teens want pays off in the end for companies, which is why they continue to do it.

Rising Star

The Apple iPhone is definitely a rising star in the mobile phone market. There are so many different brands and providers which creates an intense amount of competition. There have been popular phones in the past, but the iPhone seems to be the "it" phone. I have never seen so many people with one phone. It seems the cellular community is obsessed with the phone and anyone who can get their hands on one will do so. This phone is capturing an extremely high market share, even with many competing phones coming on the market like the Blackberry Storm, Samsung Instinct, and LG Dare. It simply comes down to the fact that no one can top, or even match, apple's technology.

New Era Orientation

For me, this is new era product orientation. Showing a celebrity like Paris Hilton wearing the denim makes people want to buy this product for the obvious benefit it has to offer: it will make you look like a celebrity. The jeans are not much different that any others, but they have the appeal of high-profile people wearing them.